On Nov. 17, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote to Vannevar Bush. the director of the 3-year-old Office of Scientific Research and Development, “New frontiers of the mind are before us, and if they are pioneered with the same vision, boldness, and drive with which we have waged this war we can create a fuller and more fruitful employment and a fuller and more fruitful life.” The president asked Bush four questions. They are the same questions we should be asking today:
First: What can be done, consistent with military security, and with the prior approval of the military authorities, to make known to the world as soon as possible the contributions which have been made during our war effort to scientific knowledge?
In 2020 parlance that war is the war against COVID-19. We have learned a lot. How are we going to share that knowledge and maximize it to the fullest potential?
